Like dolphins can swim. This is a terrible shame...
"More than 20 dolphins have died and several others remain stranded after swimming up a river in Cornwall, in what rescuers have described as the biggest mass stranding of marine life for 27 years. Coastguards were alerted at 8.30am today after a visitor at a nearby guesthouse noticed a dolphin that appeared to have beached itself in Porth Creek, near Falmouth. When they arrived to launch a rescue operation, many more dolphins had become stranded. It is thought the first dolphin may have sent out a distress signal that lured the others up the river Percuil.
"Initially, one swam up and got disoriented in shallow water," said Neil Oliver, from the Falmouth coastguard. "It put out a distress call and it looks as though the others have followed and thought 'We'll find out what's going on'.''
Dave Nicoll, a lifeboat helmsman, said: "It's a horrible scene of carnage with bodies everywhere, but we are doing our best to help and will continue to support the expert groups.
"We have been trying to help those who are alive and have already succeeded in getting five back into the water. We think the pod have been attracted by the cries for help from those that are stuck in the creek."
"We haven't seen a stranding anywhere near this scale since 1981 when pilot whales were beached on the east coast. This is extremely rare. We are warning people that many will die but we may be able to save some."
It is understood the creatures are striped dolphins, which are not naturally a coastal breed. Woodley said they were ocean-going and had probably followed fish that were feeding on a large algal bloom in the area.
"Logistically, a rescue like this is a minefield. It is very difficult to manage. You have to get all the dolphins together; if one or two leave the river system they will just come back to rejoin the main social group."
Mind you.. I read somewhere that dolphins have one of the most advanced language systems... makes you wonder why they didn't 'sonar' "I am stuck - don't try to save me or you will be too!"
I have video tape in Edinburgh of Japanese fishermen herding dolphins into a bay and slicing their tails off with knives so they can't escape. The entire sea is red with blood and it's a shockingly horrific sequence to watch.
But if Navies are testing new sonar techniques, depth charges and so on, the sound waves travel through water and must drive these animals half mad and that's why I think these things happen. It's not a natural occurrence but an un-natural one, where the animals are desperately trying to escape.
"But if Navies are testing new sonar techniques, depth charges and so on, the sound waves travel through water and must drive these animals half mad and that's why I think these things happen. It's not a natural occurrence but an un-natural one, where the animals are desperately trying to escape."
That seems pretty feasible, Michael, but why shoot up a relatively small estuary and onwards to a tiny river when the whole of the Atlantic is out there?
The Natural History Museum said its zoologists from the National Whale Stranding Scheme were working with vets from the Zoological Society of London to discover why the dolphins stranded. It said marine strandings occurred for a variety of reasons, including sickness, disorientation, natural mortality, extreme weather conditions or injury. Zoologist Liz Evans-Jones said: "Whales and dolphins strand themselves for a number of reasons and we're not sure yet what happened with these dolphins." Initial post-mortem tests show the animals were well fed and healthy.
The Royal Navy was carrying out a survey off Cornwall around the time 26 dolphins died, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed. The admission came after the navy had previously denied having any vessels in the area. Sonar was used in Falmouth Bay at the time but the MoD said it was "extremely unlikely" to have affected the mammals. Sonar signals from ships are among the possible causes being looked at for the dolphins becoming confused.
An MoD spokesman said: "Royal Navy vessels have not used low frequency sonar anywhere in the South West areas. "A survey vessel was conducting trials using a high definition, short range side scan sonar for sea bed mapping trials approximately 12 nautical miles off the coast of Falmouth at the time of the incident. It is considered extremely unlikely that this operation could have affected the mammals in any way."
He said there had been no live munitions firings by the navy in the South West area since Friday. However, the Royal Navy press office initially told the BBC that none of their ships were in the Falmouth area over the weekend, and the last navy activity in the area had been last Thursday.
I hate the MoD. This is standard behaviour for them, they're so secretive that they'll deny everything until it's impossible to deny anything, then they'll admit eventually that something was going on, but it wasn't their fault.
In this case, they deny that the Royal Navy were carrying out any sonar testing which in itself may well be factually correct, but it was a survey ship. What they fail to mention is that the survey ship and crew were being sub-contracted by the MoD to carry out these tests on behalf of the Navy.
Plausible deniability or in the usual case of the MoD, we'd call it passing the buck.
'Weren't me Guv. Wasn't even there'.
It happens all the time with the MoD. Protecting a country is one thing, but they need to have public accountablity too and if it wasn't for the work of a handful of journalists, the MoD would still be denying they were carrying out live firing and sonar tests off the coast of Falmouth today, even though witnesses watched them!
The problem for them though is that they've brought themselves under the spotlight with this latest escapade, so it's going to be difficult for them to deny anything in the future, should a similar situation arise.
I just did a search for "Dolphins" and found this as one of the first topics about them and added to it. It wasnt until this morning I read what was at the top. It was the same thread title that I wanted to use. bad excuse I know.
Sorry about that ol'chap.
I actually like dolphins. I'm sure dolphins are smart enough to make jokes about humans.
Wow... This breaks my heart.. They try to help the ones in the shallow water, only to be in need of help themselves with their cries.. I hope since this post began that they've lucked out and helped/saved a few more dolphins.. Dolphins are just the coolest mammals ever.. I hope they're doing ok.. I'm going to read up on it now actually. Peace.
Be on the lookout for a documentary called 'The Cove' - it depicts the secret, horrific slaughter of dolphins at a small fishing town in Japan. The director, a former dolphin trainer turned activist for dolphin protection, shot footage of the practice using hidden cameras (there's an element of caper film here). The fisherman take a few dolphins to sell to exhibitions and the rest are killed and sold for meat (which incidentally contains toxic levels of mercury). It's played here and there and has appeared at festivals.
And did I mention they play "Heroes" over the closing credits?
Wow. I just read up on 'The Cove' about an hour ago.. Everything: ingesting sand from knowing somehow that they're infected terminally, or climate changes affecting them enough to terminate their own lives knowingly.. It goes without saying, but, man, are dolphins fascinating.. Plus, they're cooler than seals, even performing ones or the Navy alike, or something lol.
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